Means and method for binding books



Feb. 11, 1936. SPINNER ET AL 2,030,478

MEANS AND METHOD FOR gINDING BOOKS Filed Aug. 6, 1934 Patented Feb. 11, 1936 UNITED STATES 2,030,478 MEANS AND METHOD FOR BINDING BOOKS Isidore Spinner, Chicago, and Philip'V. Spinner,

Wilmette, Ill.

- Application August-6,1934, Serial No. 738,694

4 Claims.

ing is meant the capacity of the book when opened fiatwise to have its leaves disposed parallel with the supporting surface, thus affording fiat page surfaces, and further permitting the book to be fully opened with the covers back to back without the usual "warping of the leaves along the backbone.

In characterizing the present means and method of binding as involving the use of ring-like elements, a differentiation should at once he made between the present disclosure and. the ordinary so-called ring-binders, consisting of separings are inserted, these being essentially looseleaf binders intended to retain sheets having holes punched at their edges to register with the rings, the latter. being split or otherwise jointed so that the rings can be opened to permit the leaves to be added to or removed from the binder. These so-called ring-binders are not the equivalent of bound books, inasmuch as they are. primarily in-- tended to be expansible as to contents, and since the rings are loose and independent of each other, there is always more or less binding between the rings and the contents which interfere with the freedom of opening and closing, and unless care is exercised, the leaves are easily torn out. By the present method of using binding or ring stitching as it may be more properly termed, the ring elements are in the nature of circular stitches inserted through a multiplicity of rela: tively 'small perforations in the edges of the tact and numerous enough to securely bind the leaves against tearing out along the perforations.

And finally the rings are connected together transversely so that they are always maintained inparallel relation and axial alignment, thus form ng in effect a cylindric backbone extending the length of the book. V

Having set forth the invention in its general aspects, the following is a more detailed descriprate covers through which two or more large.

0 leaves, large enough to permit a free sliding contion thereof in its preferred embodiment as disclosed in the accompanying drawing, in which v Figure 1 is a view in front elevation of the bound book.

Figure 2- is an end'view of the book.

Figure 3 is a view in side elevation of the bound book.

Figure 4 is an enlarged detail view in cross section through the bound edge of the book.

Figure 5 is an enlarged detail view in cross section through the bound edge of the book Showing it fully opened with the coversback to back.

Figure 6 is a view in longitudinal section of the book opened and lying fiatwise.

Figure '7 is a detail view of the binding'mem- -ber showing one method of forming and joining the rings. p I

Figure 8 is a perspective view of a book showing a modification of the binding member.

The book consists ofsthe usual stack of leaves or sheets I included betwencovers 2, 2 which may be stiff or flexible, thick or thin, depending on the type of book, it being noted at the out- ,set thatany book capable of beingJbQund by the ordinary methods can be bound by the improved method. Thus regardless of the stock used for the leaves and covers, they are all cut to the same dimensions, and along one edge-is punched a row of holes or perforations 3 uniformly spaced as to the distance between them and from the edge of the sheet. These perforations are in register when the cover and/or leaves are stacked for binding which is completed by applying a binding member 4 consisting of a series of rings passing loosely through. the perforations 3 and united into a relatively solid cylindric backbone by a'bar' 4 extending transversely of the rings and connecting them together so that they are not,only permanently 40 disposed in parallel planes, but in axial alignment. Y

For ordinary binding purposes the binding member is made of a relatively light gauge wire which need only to be stiff enough to withstand ordinary usage without the rings .4 bendingnr becoming distorted. Thetransverse bar 4 is preferably ofthe same gauge wire as the rings, although if greater strength is desired it can be made of somewhat heavier stock. The perforations 3 are likewise smaller than generally used for punching sheets of paper, a: of an inch being ample, since they need only be large enough to permit the rings to be readily inserted through them and the leaves toslide freely thereon without binding. In fact, the sizes of the wire and the perforations can be assumed to be fairly standardized for all books which lend themselves to this style of binding, inasmuch as the large number of closely spaced rings would be the equivalent of wire stitching or stapling,- regardless of the length of the binding.

There is, however, a variable factor and that is the diameter of the rings, which manifestly would be determined by the thickness of the book to be bound. As to this it would be correct to say that the diameter of the rings is slightly greater than the 'thickness of the leaves and covers. Thus if the contents are inch in thickness, the rings would be, say, inch, just enough in excess to permit the leaves to be turned without binding. Another method of gauging the diameter of the rings to the thickness of the leaves is by the distancebetween the opposing edges of the leaves when the book is opened and laid fiat as shown in Figure 6. This distance or spacing need not be over of an inch at the bottom of the space or just suilicient clearance to allow the leaves to turn freely without interference along their perforated edge, although it will be observed on account of the curvature of the rings the sheets tend to align themselves vertically with their perforations following a slightly curved line. This, however, is minimized andtherefore scarcely noticeable in practice on acount of the fine gauge of wire used.

It may be observed that for some types of books such as photograph albums, a greater variation between the thickness of the leaves and the diameter of the rings may be provided than has been indicated, inasmuch as this thickness will ultimately be increased with the entry of the photographs.

In general, therefore, there is no limit to the thickness of the books that may be bound, although as a practical matter the ring type of binding member is perhaps more adaptable to books of entry such as note-books, albums, memorandum books, ledgers and the like, although it is equally advantageous for binding catalogues, brochures, magazines and certain types of periodicals.

'Having disclosed the application of'the binding member to a book in completed form, the essential steps in the process or method of forming the binding member and applying it to a book will now be described. And in this connecdesigned I'nachines being preferably used .for performing the various operations involved.

Thus without describing such a machine in detaiL'the steps can be readily visualized as follows: The perforated leaves and covers properly assembled and stacked into book form are fed or inserted into register with a series of wire feeding heads corresponding in number and spacing to the aligned perforations of the assembled book, whereupon lengths of the wire are simultaneously passed through the perforations and bent into circular form with a small space between their ends. During the ring forming op-' ticularly being maintained in parallel and axial alignment, with thespaces between the ends of the annularly shaped wires also in alignment. When the forming operation is completed, a length of straight wire is inserted into the spaces between the slightly partedends of therings, and the assembly completed by welding the rings to the cross bar as shown in Figure '7. This is the preferred method since it disposes the cross bar in the plane of the rings, although it would be equally practical to first form the rings completely closed and then weld the cross bar in place over the joints. This method would solidify the assembly in one operation as before, except that the bar would be disposed outside or inside the rings, depending on which way the bar was applied.

As an obvious modification, a binding member 5 may be made of fiat wire or thin strip material as shown in Figure 8, with the perforations in the form of slots rather than circular, and willciently larger than the cross-sectional area of the rings 5 to aiford-the necessary clearance. In this construction it would perhaps bemore practical to weld the cross bar 5 over the joints of the rings. Moreover, the cross bar of fiat strip material may, if desired, be wider than the rings or may have'a portion of its length of increased width, thus providing space for a title, name or other matter to be stamped or otherwise applied.

In considering the advantages to the' herein disclosed method of binding mention may be made also of the so-called "spiraP binding consisting of a length of wire formed in a helix and resembling very much a coil spring. This type of binderv while satisfactory in some respects, has several serious defects and particularly from a manufacturing standpoint. In the first place, the threading of the spiral members through the perforations must. be done by hand, inasmuch as no machine so far as known has been developed for performing this operation. Then again, the ends I of the spiral must be bent after it has been threaded through the perforations, this being also a hand operation. And finally, a book bound with a spiral binder is objectionable in that its leaves are thrown out of alignment when the book is opened, due to the fact that the perforations follow the helix, with the result that when the book is opened flat the top and bottom edges are offset a distance equal to one-half the pitch of the helix, and when fully opened, that is, with the covers back to back, the ofiset is even more pronounced since it'is then equal to'full pitch of the helix. This is a particularly disadvantageous feature in books using double page illustrations, as for example in catalogues or brochures, or intended for double page entries as in the case of account books with ruled pages with the attendant difficulty of making entries where the horizontal lines on one page are not in alignment with the lines on the opposite page.

These disadvantages are not encountered in the improved multi-ring style of binding, and for the obvious reason that the rings are parallel and hence the leaves remain alwaysin alignment regardless of the extent the book is opened or the manner in which it is used.

Thus having fully set forth the construction of the improved binding, together with the method of manufacture and the advantages both from a production and practical standpoint, we claim: r

l. A method of binding into book form a sheaf of leaves having a row of registering perforations along the edge to be bound, consisting of simultaneously inserting a plurality of lengths of wire through said perforations and bending the'same into the form of-rings, applying a straight bar to extend transversely of said rings and fastening the bar to said rings at the joints thereof.

2. A method of binding into book form a sheaf of leaveshaving a row of registering perforations along the edge to be bound, consisting of simultaneously inserting a plurality of lengths of wire through said perforations and bending the same into rings, inserting a straight bar in the spaces between the ends of said rings while the same are held in parallel and axial alignment and welding the ends of the rings to said bar.

3. A method of book binding consisting of punching the stacked leaves to be bound to provide a multiplicity of registering perforations along one edge, inserting lengths of wire through said perforations, shaping the same into the form of rings, and successively closing and joining said rings together in parallel and axial alignment.

4. A flexibly bound book including a backbone consisting of a multiplicity of wire rings of a diameter slightly greater than the combined thickness of the leaves and inserted through integrally closed holes along the bound edge of the leaves, and a, cross bar extending between abutting ends of said wire rings and joined thereto to close said rings and to rigidly connect the same in parallel relation and axial alignment.

' ISIDORE SPINNER.

4 PHILIP V. SPINNER. 

